1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a storage, shipping and dispensing system for loose fill packaging material. More particularly, this invention pertains to dispensing containers for loose fill materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Loose fill packaging materials are a form of dunnage which are now typically manufactured of expanded polystyrene in various preselected shapes which may or may not be intended to provide interlocking characteristics when under some compression. However, all the expanded polystyrene loose fills currently in use are intended to provide readily flowable, lightweight dunnage materials of high volumetric efficiency and good strength in compression. The cost and ease of handling of loose fill permits it to be used with great advantage over other types of packaging, because an article to be protected within an outer container can very quickly be surrounded with an encompassing cushion of the loose fill, at very low added cost and with virtually no shipping penalty.
The practice in the loose fill industry has been to ship and store the loose fill in plastic bags of approximately 15 cubic feet or less capacity. Individual users have thereafter provided their own dispensing system for their own applications. Most typically, an overhead storage or hopper is built above the dispensing location, and the dispenser chute or hopper feeds the loose fill by gravity down into the area of use. Either the supply or the dispenser may be agitated when necessary to provide a continued flow. Loose fill is dispensed upon the opening of a dispensing valve. Dispensing valves previously in use utilized spring loaded squeeze actuated arrangements which have had a tendency to cause worker fatigue. Multi-station air conveyor systems have been used but lack convenience in loading of the loose fill into the systems.
Although a 15 cubic foot bag is bulky, it is so light (at 0.5 lbs/sq. in. density) that it may readily be handled. However, the same ease of dispensation which is one of the attractive advantages of loose fill means that many packages can rapidly be filled so that in a volume operation it is necessary to keep a relatively large supply of bags on hand, and to spend a substantial amount of time in unloading the bags into the dispensing systems. This manipulation and transportation of the bags, the necessity for dispensing equipment, and the costs of the bags themselves, should advantageously be avoided.